Mastering the Look: Magic/Bird's Tug Coker

Broadway's most exciting new play has got nothing to do with singing cats or orphaned girls. It's about one of the greatest rivalries/friendships in sports history. Magic/Bird tells the story of Magic Johnson and Larry Bird's intense on-court relationship and immense off-court respect for one another. We caught up with Tug Coker, the actor behind Larry Bird, to learn how he mastered the "French Lick, Indiana" steez

GQ: So you’re confirming that that’s a mullet?

Tug Coker: Well, I can’t confirm it. I should’ve asked Larry this when I was talking to him. "Can you verify that you started the mullet? Did that ever happen?" Let’s just say it looks like what appears to be a mullet. After he lost to Magic in ’87, it looks like he went all-business. Cleaned himself up, got serious.

GQ: That was your actual hair they cut? Or was it a wig?

Tug Coker: No, I have two wigs in the show. Basically what we try to do is use the hair throughout the time period. So the ’79, early ’80s has the longer look. As he matures into the show, the ’84, ’85, ’86 era, we brushed the front back and let the back hang a little bit more...

GQ: More of party in the back.

Tug Coker: A little more party in the back!

GQ: Did he give you any pointers on how to nail the look?

Tug Coker: No, he didn’t. He left me free to do what I do and what the designers do. I want to know where a kid from French Lick, Indiana gets his clothes. Especially a 6’9 kid. I visited French Lick for a couple days. I was in Indiana, just checking out the place. There’s no mall. No JCPenney.

Tug Coker: They kept bringing stuff to me to wear, and I was pretty adamant about making sure we were using labels and companies that Bird would wear. I don’t know if you remember this, but in Barcelona there was a big issue, because Reebok sponsored the Dream Team but Michael was with Nike, so there was this huge kind of-

GQ: Battle, yeah.

Tug Coker: Yeah, there was an issue there. I just wanted them to be really, really strict. If he was with Reebok in this era, or if he was with Converse in this era, who was he with at the right times. Everyone knows him for Converse. I have a poster that I’ve had since I was six years old, and he’s wearing Converse. It’s officially a Converse poster. As far as I can remember it’s always been Converse.

GQ: How was the mustache?

Tug Coker: The mustache was—first of all—amazing to wear. I’m thinking about putting one on full-time after the show.

GQ: Permanently putting it on?

Tug Coker: Just feels good. It makes you feel like a man.

GQ: How would you describe Larry Bird’s mustache?

Tug Coker: It’s a mustache that people know it when they see it. It has a personality all its own. It’s a light blond mustache that wants to be full and it’s working its way towards fullness. That’s what I’ll say.

GQ: The shorts were super-short. Do you think that style will ever come back?

Tug Coker: Somebody asked me this once. I think it’s going to take someone really brave to bring it back. I think it should come back, because if you look at the styles that we’re going through in this time, with the resurgence of Mad Men, super-tight jeans, things like that—I’m waiting for a guy in the NBA to be like, "I’m proud of the way I look. I want to show off my physique" and rock the short-shorts. He might get heckled at first, but the other guys in the league will probably realize the female attention he’s getting and follow along. It needs to be a superstar. It has to be LeBron or D-Wade, who are very stylish. I think that Chris Paul might be able to pull it off now that he’s in L.A. Get American Apparel to help design it.

GQ: Do you think you will adopt any of the looks from the play into your personal style? Whether it’s the mustache, the hair, the short-shorts...

Tug Coker: Definitely the mustache. I’ve been trying to pull off...I’ve been working with the mustache for years. Various lengths, the bushiness. I’m still trying to figure it out. I’m realizing now the Larry Bird style...the thin, long mustache. Some would call it wispy. I’m not calling it wispy, but some would. That might be the route for me. Also, the shoes were pretty hot. The classic Converse, the Weapons, are sick. So, I think they rebuilt those. They bought an original pair off of eBay. Shoe culture is huge in this country right now, and I’m no different. I like finding the hottest shoes, and I think maybe I’ll dig into the retro style a little more after that.

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